■X-, 


J 


>'  DR.  LOWELL'S   DISCOURSE, 


AUGUST    3,    1845. 


FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 

REV.   LOU.S    FITZGERALD    BENSON.  D.  D. 


DISCOURSE 


DELIVERED  IN  THE   WEST  CHURCH  IN  BOSTON, 


AUGUST  3,  1845 


BY 


yy 


CHARLES    LOWELL, 

ONE    OF    THE     MINISTERS    OF    THE     WEST     CHURCH. 


'Thou  shalt  remember  all  the  way  which  the  Lord  thy  God  led  thee  these  forty  years. 

Deuteronomy  viii.  2. 


PRINTED   AT  THE  REQUEST  OF  THE   STANDING  COMMITTEE   OF  THE  PARISH. 


CAMBRIDGE: 
METCALF    AN  D    COMPANY, 

PRINTERS    TO    THE    UNIVERSITY. 

1845. 


DISCOURSE 


Rejoice  in  the  Lord  alway  ;  and  again  I  say,  Rejoice.  " — 
Philippians,  iv.  4. 


There  are  seasons  in  the  life  of  every  one  of  us, 
when  a  retrospective  view  of  life,  of  what  we  have 
done  for  our  own  good  or  the  good  of  others,  as  well 
as  what  of  duty  we  have  left  undone,  comes  home 
upon  the  mind  with  peculiar  force.  These  seasons 
often  occur  in  the  life  of  a  minister,  and,  though  he 
should  avoid  a  too  frequent  recurrence  to  them  in  the 
pulpit,  yet  an  occasional  reference  may  be  neither  un- 
interesting nor  useless. 

Had  it  pleased  God  that  I  should  have  been  with 
you  a  sabbath  or  two  since,  I  should  have  told  you 
that,  in  the  week  previous,  forty  years  had  been  com- 
pleted since  I  first  preached  in  this  parish.  What  I 
then  intended  to  say  I  purpose  now  to  say,  in  the  free- 
dom of  colloquial  address,  rather  than  in  the  language 
of  a  labored  discourse.  To  this  the  circumstances 
and  recollections  of  this  occasion  naturally  impel  me. 
They  lead  me  to  consider  myself  as  in  the  midst  of  my 
family,  speaking  to  familiar  friends,  with  many  of  whom 


I  have  been  long  connected ;  a  large  portion  of  whom 
have  grown  up  under  my  ministry,  are  as  my  children? 
and,  till  lately,  have  known  no  other  as  their  minister. 
I  may  not  dwell  on  the  happiness  I  feel  in  the  new 
relation  which  they  and  myself  sustain  to  an  associate 
pastor. 

It  was  in  a  small  wooden  edifice,  occupying  indeed 
the  spot  on  which  we  are  now  assembled,  but  then 
standing  almost  alone,  in  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  with 
few  buildings  between  the  church  and  the  river,  that  I 
preached  my  first  sermon  here.  It  had  much  the  as- 
pect, as  far  as  I  now  remember,  of  a  country  church, 
within  and  without,  with  a  few  houses  in  its  neighbour- 
hood, and  others,  scattered  here  and  there  in  the  fields, 
in  what  was  then  called  "  New  Boston." 

It  was  to  a  parish  consisting,  I  think,  of  about  forty 
proprietors,  and  less  than  a  hundred  families,  that 
that  sermon  was  preached.  Yet  it  was  a  parish  to 
whom,  at  my  ordination,  it*  was  said,  —  "  Your  history 
has  been  illustrious,  and  we  honor  you,  whilst  we  ven- 
erate your  pastors." 

I  well  remember  the  day,  and  something,  it  may  be, 
of  my  emotions,  as  I  ascended  the  green  eminence  on 
which  the  church  stood,  by  one  of  the  many  paths 
which,  in  seventy  years,  had  been  marked  out  by  the 
footsteps  of  the  worshippers  who  had  gone  up  in  com- 
pany to  the  house  of  God.  I  had  just  returned  from 
pursuing  my  studies  abroad,*  after  an  absence  of  two 
years.  It  was  the  place  of  my  nativity  to  which  I  had 
returned ;  but  in  this  parish  I  was  an  entire  stranger. 

*  In  Edinburgh 


I  had  probably  had  intercourse  only  with  the  officer  of 
the  church  who  was  employed  to  ask  for  my  services, 
who  is  long  since  numbered  with  the  dead,  — if  they 
can  be  said  to  die,  who  truly  live  !  —  and  whose  mem- 
ory (with  that  of  how  many  others !)  is  very  precious 
to  me. 

My  predecessor  was  one  of  the  last  persons  I  had 
seen  before  I  left  my  country.  I  have  a  vivid  remem- 
brance of  the  good  old  man,  "  simple,  grave,  sincere." 
He  said  to  me,  "  You  will  probably  return  to  take  the 
place  of  one  of  us."  It  was  appointed  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God  that  I  should  take  his  place.  Would 
that  a  larger  portion  of  the  spirit  of  the  ascended  Eli- 
jah had  fallen,  with  his  mantle,  on  his  immediate  suc- 
cessor ! 

Few,  very  few,  are  among  the  living  on  earth,  who 
heard  my  first  sermon.  Of  those  who  were  recorded 
as  proprietors,  only  two ;  both  with  us  in  spirit, 
though  only  one  in  person.  May  a  life  so  honorable 
and  so  dear  be  yet  far  extended  !  Of  the  heads  of 
families,  of  both  sexes,  five  or  six  remain.  Of  those 
who  were  ministers  in  the  town  at  that  time,  not  one. 
I  am  the  oldest  in  standing  of  the  ministers  of  all  de- 
nominations by  more  than  six  years.  Of  about  a  hun- 
dred who  had  preceded  me  in  the  ministry  in  the  town, 
since  its  settlement,  fourteen  had  as  long  a  ministry  as 
mine  has  been.  Of  the  thirteen  ministers  who  were 
on  the  council  at  my  ordination,  one  only  is  living  ;  * 
of  those  who  officiated  on  that  occasion,  not  one.  One 
of  the  earliest  taken  was  the  youngest,  my  classmate 

*  Dr.  Pierce,  of  Brookline. 


6 


and  friend,*  who  had  breathed  the  wish,  "  that  our  gra- 
cious Master,  who,  when  he  was  on  earth,  sent  forth 
his  seventy  evangelists,  by  two  and  two,  to  preach  the 
gospel  in  Judea,  would  send  us  forth  together  by  his 
authority,  would  permit  us  to  travel  in  company  through 
a  useful  ministry,  and  would  enable  us  to  return  to  his 
presence  at  last,  rejoicing  to  find  that  our  names  had 
been  written,  with  the  names  of  our  people,  in  the 
book  of  life."  How  short  was  our  journey  together! 
How  brief,  yet  how  brilliant,  was  his  ministry  on  earth ! 
In  the  best  portion  of  his  devout  aspiration,  may  it  yet 
be  fulfilled ! 

"Rejoice  in  the  Lord  alway ;  and  again  I  say,  Re- 
joice." Such  was  the  theme  of  my  discourse  on  the 
day  to  which  I  have  referred ;  such  the  text  of  the  first 
sermon  which  I  preached  in  this  parish.  It  wras  my 
object,  in  that  sermon,  to  portray  the  beneficial  influence 
of  religion  on  the  character  and  happiness  of  man  ;  and 
the  concluding  exhortation  was  in  the  spirit  of  the  text, 
" Rejoice  in  the  Lord  alway"  —  in  joy  and  in  sorrow, 
in  prosperity  and  adversity,  in  riches  and  poverty,  in 
health  and  sickness,  in  life  and  death.  As  I  then  pre- 
sented religion,  —  in  the  garb  of  cheerfulness,  and  not  of 
melancholy,  as  the  inspirer  of  peace  and  hope,  and  not 
of  wretchedness  and  despair,  —  so,  you  will  bear  me 
witness,  I  have  always  presented  it.  As  I  then  exhort- 
ed those  who  heard  me  to  rejoice  in  the  Lord  alway, 
so  have  I  exhorted  you  to  do  in  all  the  varied  circum- 
stances of  your  lives.     I  have  directed  you  to  God  as 

*  Mr.  Buckminster,  who  died  June  9th,  1812. 


your  Father  and  your  best  Friend,  and  —  as  our  relig- 
ion presents  him  to  us — as  God  in  Christ,  reconciling 
the  world  to  himself.  I  have  exhorted  you  to  go  to 
him,  through  Christ,  as  your  only  secure  refuge,  and 
have  assured  you  that  none  who  went  by  that  way 
should  in  any  wTise  be  cast  out. 

So  did  I  begin,  and  so  would  I  end,  my  preaching. 
"Rejoice  in  the  Lord  alway"  And  what  abundant 
cause  have  we  for  rejoicing  in  the  Lord  !  What  an 
abundant  source  of  rejoicing  is  opened  to  us  in  that 
religion  which  teaches  us  to  rejoice  in  God  !  How 
often,  —  little  as  it  seems  to  me  that  I  have  been  instru- 
mental in  effecting  in  this  already  long  ministry,  —  how 
often  have  I  seen  the  influence  of  this  religion  in  re- 
fining, purifying,  sanctifying,  elevating  the  soul  of  the 
believer;  in  soothing  sorrow,  sometimes  indescribably 
great,  and  which  nothing  else  could  soothe ;  in  reconcil- 
ing, and  more  than  reconciling,  to  death,  where  there 
was  every  thing  to  inspire  the  wish  to  live  !  But  religion 
—  faith  in  God  and  in  Christ  —  had  given  the  hope  of 
a  better  world,  and  death  was  "  swallowed  up  of  life." 
Blessed  hope  !  Hold  it  fast,  my  friends.  Do  not  let  it  go. 
If  we  deceive  you,  we  are  ourselves  deceived.  And  — 
were  it  so — blessed  delusion  !  But  it  is  not  so.  We 
do  not  deceive  you,  and  we  are  not  deceived.  We  have 
a  sure  and  firm  foundation  for  our  hope  in  Christ. 
We  have  this  hope.  Without  it,  we  should  indeed  be 
miserable. 

In  my  preaching,  I  have  dwelt  but  little  on  points  of 
doubtful  disputation.     The  opinion  I  gave  many  years 


s 


ago,*  in  reference  to  a  minister's  duty  in  this  respect,  I 
repeat  as  my  opinion  now.  "  He  is  bound  to  elucidate, 
as  far  as  he  is  able,  and  may  deem  useful,  the  doctrines 
of  the  gospel ;  but  the  gospel  itself,  as  a  comprehen- 
sive whole,  is  a  doctrine  according  to  godliness,  and  no 
elucidation  need  be  attempted  by  which  this  is  not  pro- 
moted." To  me  it  seems  that  the  essential  doctrines 
of  religion  are  few  and  simple.  I  confess  I  consider  re- 
ligion itself  as  a  very  simple  thing ;  as  consisting  much 
more  in  practice  than  in  theory ;  as  having  much  more 
to  do  with  the  affections  than  with  the  understanding  ; 
with  the  heart  than  with  the  head.  The  Christian  re- 
ligion treats,  indeed,  of  truths  the  most  sublime.  It  fur- 
nishes scope  for  the  exercise  of  the  highest  intellectual 
powers.  It  has  shed  light  on  the  most  interesting  sub- 
jects of  speculation,  and  thereby  greatly  enlarged  the 
limits  of  human  knowledge.  It  has  been  the  great  in- 
strument for  raising  the  intellectual  as  well  as  the  moral 
condition  of  mankind  ;  for  enlightening  as  well  as  re- 
forming the  world.  Its  service,  too,  is  a  reasonable  ser- 
vice. Its  exercises  and  its  exhibitions  must  be  under  the 
control  and  guidance  of  reason  ;  but,  in  my  opinion,  it 
does  consist  much,  very  much,  in  exercises  and  exhibi- 
tions, —  in  the  exercise  of  holy  affections,  and  the  exhi- 
bition of  a  holy  life.  Of  the  truth  and  importance  of 
the  distinction  I  have  heretofore  made  between  theol- 
ogy and  religion  t  I  am  more  and  more  convinced. 
However  important  may  be  theology  as  an  instru- 
ment, —  as  the  means  of  promoting  religion,  —  it  is 

*  Sermon  at  an  ordination  in  1820. 

f  Sermon  at  an  ordination  in  1829,  and  sermon  at  an  ordination  in  1831. 


9 


not  oar  theology,  but  our  religion,  that  will  save  us,  — 
the  religion  of  the  heart.  With  the  heart  man  believeth 
unto  righteousness,  and  then  with  the  tongue  maketh 
confession  to  salvation*  "If  ye  know  that  he  is  right- 
eous, ye  know  that  every  one  that  doeth  righteousness 
is  born  of  him." 

It  was  a  moral  kingdom  which  Jesus  Christ  came  to 
establish  on  earth,  a  kingdom  in  the  hearts  of  men. 
The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you.  He  declares  the 
first  commandment  to  be  love  to  God,  and  the  second 
commandment  to  be  love  to  man,  and  that  on  these  two 
commandments  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets.  Often 
—  how  often  !  —  have  I  witnessed  the  efficacy  of  this 
love,  when  all  the  labor  I  could  exert  could  give  little 
or  no  distinct  notion  of  what  are  commonly  called  the 
doctrines  of  religion,  and  where  what  was  learned  to- 
day was  forgotten  to-morrow.  But  there  was  love  to 
God  and  love  to  man,  there  was  a  hope  full  of  immor- 
tality, —  a  hope  which  entered  within  the  veil,  and  was 
therefore  an  anchor  to  the  soul,  sure  and  steadfast. 

I  came  into  the  ministry  unfettered  and  unpledged, 
except  to  do  what  I  might,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  to 
promote  the  interests  of  religion,  and  the  virtue  and 
happiness  of  this  society.*  I  came  into  a  church  strict- 
ly independent.  I  know  not.  that  I  have  done  any 
thing,  in  word  or  deed,  to  bring  the  church  or  my- 
self in  bondage  to  any  one.  I  came  here  at  a  period 
when  the  churches  were  at  peace.  Parties  have 
been  formed  ;  war  has  raged.     I  have  joined  none  of 

*  Letter  accepting  the  call  of  the  parish. 

2 


10 


the  parties  ;  I  have  had  no  share  in  the  contest;  unless, 
indeed,  in  essaying  to  throw  oil  on  the  waters  of  strife, 
and  in  lifting,  now  and  then,  my  feeble  voice  to  say, 
"  Sirs,  ye  are  brethren  ;  why  do  ye  strive  ?  " 

If  I  have  joined  no  party,  it  was  because  I  remem- 
bered the  words  of  an  apostle,  —  "  It  hath  been  declared 
unto  me  that  there  are  contentions  among  you.  Every 
one  of  you  saith,  I  am  of  Paul,  and  I  of  Apollos, 
and  I  of  Cephas,  and  I  of  Christ.  Is  Christ  divided  ? 
Was  Paul  crucified  for  you  1  or  were  ye  baptized  in 
the  name  of  Paul?  Who  is  Paul,  and  who  is  Apol- 
los, but  ministers  by  whom  ye  believed  ?  Let  no 
man  glory  in  men,  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Ce- 
phas. Ye  are  Christ's,  and  Christ  is  God's."  It  was, 
further,  because  in  some  things  I  agreed  with  all  par- 
ties, —  in  all  things,  with  none ;  and,  adopting  not 
their  creed,  I  took  not  their  name.*  As  I  have  under- 
stood the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  the  Bible  I  have 
taught  them,  not  concerning  myself,  in  this  matter, 
about  the  opinions  or  practice  of  others,  and  holding 
myself  amenable  only  to  my  people,  my  conscience, 
and  my  God.  I  have  not  sought  for  dominion  over 
other  men's  faith,  and  I  have  suffered  no  one  to  have 
dominion  over  my  own  faith,  —  no,  not  for  an  hour. 

Within  less  than  a  year  after  my  first  sermon  here 
was  preached,  the  old  church,  consecrated  by  so  many 
prayers,  and  hallowed  by  so  many  sacred  recollections, 
was  taken  down,  and  the  church  in  which  we  now 
worship  erected  in   its  place.      Dear  to   my  remem- 

*  The  reasons  for  this  course  are  given  at  some  length  in  a  dedication 
sermon,  published  in  1828. 


11 


brance  is  that  modest  structure,  associated  with  my 
first  consecration  to  the  service  of  God  in  his  church, 
and  with  the  memory  of  those  who  gave  me  so  united 
and  earnest  a  welcome  to  that  service.  Fain,  if  it 
might  have  been,  would  I  have  still  retained  it,  and 
preached  my  last  sermon  where  I  preached  my  first,  here, 
in  the  desk  of  which,  in  the  eloquent  service  at  my  ordi- 
nation, *  it  was  said,  "  The  desk  in  which  Mayhew  and 
Howard  have  stood  is  privileged  above  the  common 
walks  of  public  instruction." 

There  was  a  large  accession  of  worshippers  on  the 
erection  of  the  new  church,  and  the  parish,  during  a 
great  part  of  my  ministry,  consisted  of  from  three  to 
four  hundred  families.  Circumstances  also  brought 
under  my  care  the  largest  part  of  that  portion  of  the 
population  who  were  destitute  of  a  stated  ministry ;  so 
that,  for  several  years,  I  was  the  minister  at  large  (and 
the  first  minister  at  large)  in  fact,  though  not  in  name, 
having,  at  the  same  time,  the  care  of  a  parish  as  nu- 
merous, at  least,  as  any  in  the  town.  The  burden 
was  greater  than  I  could  bear,  and  the  impaired  state 
of  my  health  led,  by  the  advice  of  the  parish,  to  my 
fixing  my  residence  in  the  country.  The  number  of 
churches,  in  the  mean  time,  had  multiplied,  and  there 
was  less  necessity  for  my  extra  services. 

The  Sunday  school  in  this  parish  —  and  which  I 
deem  a  blessing  to  it  —  is  the  oldest  in  the  city.  Its 
germ  was  our  chanty  school,  which,  though  dead,  yet 
works  for  good,  by  the  funds  which  had  accumulated 

*  Mr.  Buckminster's  right  hand  of  fellowship. 


12 


through  the  judicious  conduct  of  its  managers,  and 
the  benefaction  of  that  excellent  woman  *  to  whom,  as 
a  parish,  we  are  indebted  for  our  largest  pecuniary 
legacy. 

Other  societies  have,  doubtless,  been  as  harmonious 
as  ours.  None  could  be  more  so.  What  I  said 
twenty-five  years  since,!  I  can  repeat  to-day,  —  and 
may  it  still  be  repeated  to  the  end  of  time !  —  "No 
vote  is  on  record,  either  in  the  church  or  society,  that 
indicates  the  smallest  deviation  from  perfect  good-will." 

Whilst  I  remember,  as  I  trust  with  devout  gratitude, 
all  the  way  which  the  Lord  hath  led  me  these  forty 
years,  I  remember,  too,  —  how  can  I  forget  it,  or  fail  to 
speak  of  it  ?  —  your  undeviating  kindness  and  liber- 
ality, the  forbearance  you  have  exercised  towards  my 
infirmities  and  deficiencies,  the  confidence  you  have 
reposed  in  me,  the  affection  you  have  shown  me,  the 
kind  sentiments  in  regard  to  my  ministry  you  have 
entertained  and  expressed,  the  generosity  you  have 
exhibited,  far  dearer  and  more  grateful  to  me  than  any 
pecuniary  compensation  by  which  that  generosity  has 
been  manifested.  God,  who  knoweth  all  things,  know- 
eth  how  much  I  have  you  in  my  heart  to  live  and  to 
die  with  you  ;  to  do  what  I  may,  in  the  little  time  that 
yet  remains  to  me,  for  your  best  good. 

I  have  ever  felt,  and  have  been  anxious  you  should 
feel,  that  there  is  a  close  and  intimate  connection  be- 
tween a  minister  and  his  people,  and  that,  as  he  should 
never  be  inattentive  to  the  lowest  whisper  of  distress, 

*  Mrs.  Derby.  f  Note  to  Historical  Sermon,  1820. 


13 


or  the  feeblest  demand  for  pastoral  duty,  so  they 
should  never  hesitate  to  ask  for  any  service  they  may 
desire  at  his  hands.  There  is  no  apology  to  be  made 
to  him  for  calling  upon  him  for  the  discharge  of  his 
duty,  and  no  thanks  to  be  given  him  for  that  which,  if 
he  feels  as  he  ought  to  feel,  is  his  highest  happi- 
ness. Never  take  it  for  granted,  in  your  sickness  or 
your  sorrow,  that  your  minister  must  needs  have  been 
informed  of  it.  If  he  had  been,  he  wTould  have  been 
with  you  to  express  the  sympathy  he  feels,  and  to  do 
you  whatever  service  he  might. 

Is  it  amiss  for  me,  in  this  connection,  to  say  that  I 
am  not  conscious  of  having  ever  heard  of  sickness  or 
trouble  in  any  of  your  families,  that  I  have  not  gone  to 
do  what  it  became  me,  as  your  minister,  to  do ;  or, 
that  I  have  ever  known  of  any  considerable  accession 
to  the  sources  of  your  happiness,  that  I  have  not  re- 
joiced with  you  in  your  joy,  and  endeavoured  to  lead 
you  to  a  grateful  improvement  of  the  goodness  of  God 
to  you  ?  One  thing  more  I  may  claim  to  say,  that  my 
pastoral  visits  have  never  been  spent  in  idle  gossip- 
ing. I  have  aimed  to  make  them  useful,  however 
much  I  may  have  failed  to  do  so.  A  minister  of  reli- 
gion, I  have  felt  that  it  became  me  to  teach  religion, 
not  only  "publicly,"  but  "from  house  to  house,"  —  to 
"  wTatch  for  souls,"  —  God  forgive  me  that  I  have  not 
been  more  faithful!  —  "as  one  who  must  give  an  ac- 
count." 

And  now,  my  beloved  friends,  let  me  remind  you 
that  God  requireth  that  which  is  past.  Of  me,  an  ac- 
count of  how  I  have  taught ;  of  you,  of  how  you  have 


14 


heard.  It  is  a  solemn  thought.  Solemn  ?  —  it  is  al- 
most overwhelming.  With  deep  repentance  and  hu- 
miliation for  our  past  neglect,  let  us  carry  this  thought 
into  the  future  with  us,  to  excite  us  to  more  fidelity  for 
the  time  to  come. 

There  was  a  time  when,  both  in  the  morning  and 
evening  service,  these  seats  were  filled.  There  was  a 
time  when  scarcely  a  head  of  a  family  (if,  indeed, 
there  was  one)  was  habitually  absent  during  either 
part  of  the  day.  They  came  up  in  company  to  the 
house  of  God,  bringing  their  families,  strengthening 
the  hands  and  encouraging  the  heart  of  their  minister, 
setting  an  example  of  the  observance  of  an  institution, 
I  will  not  say  important,  but  essential,  to  the  well-being 
of  society.  Many  of  these  are  now  spending  a  sab- 
bath in  heaven.  As  their  hallowed  images  come  up, 
at  this  hour,  in  pleasant,  yet  mournful  remembrance, 
they  seem,  from  their  high  abode,  to  be  beckoning  us 
upward.  Yes,  blessed  spirits  !  by  the  grace  of  God, 
we  will  join  you.  Such,  in  this  sacred  hour,  is  our 
solemn  purpose.  Holy  Spirit  of  God  !  help  us  to  ful- 
fil it ! 


APPENDIX 


In  the  newspapers  of  1737  we  find  an  account  of  the  gathering 
of  the  West  Church  more  full  than  is  contained  in  the  records 
of  the  Church.  As  it  has  not  been  inserted  in  the  historical  no- 
tices of  the  Church  already  printed,*  and  may  be  interesting  to 
some  readers,  it  is  thought  best  to  insert  it  here. 

"  Thursday,  January  6th,  1737. 

"  Monday  last,  in  the  afternoon,  a  new  Congregational  Church 
was  gathered  in  the  westerly  part  of  the  town  ;  and  as  the  method 
of  gathering  such  churches  here  may  not  be  known  abroad,  we 
shall  give  the  public  a  brief  account  of  this  particular  transaction. 

"  A  number  of  Christians,  belonging  to  several  congregations  in 
this  town,  judging  it  convenient  to  build  a  house  in  the  westerly 
part  thereof,  and  having  carried  on  the  building  to  a  considerable 
state  of  forwardness,  thirteen  t  of  their  number,  being  brethren  in 
full  communion  with  five  several  churches  here,  and  one  in  full 
communion  with  the  First  Church  in  Cambridge,  having  applied  to 
their  respective  churches,  obtained  letters  of  dismission  to  incorpo- 
rate a  new  church  by  themselves.  Three  others,  who  had  not  been 
in  full  communion  with  any  of  our  churches,  offered  to  join  them, 
and  there  being  no  objection  either  on  account  of  doctrine  or  con- 
versation, but  being  known  and  agreeable  to  them,  the  others  ac- 
cepted their  offer  ;  and,  consulting  with  several  ministers  to  whom 
they  belonged,  prepared  a  covenant  of  incorporation,  in  which  they 
could  all  agree  ;  and  then  applied  to  some  of  those  who  had  been 
their  pastors,  to  assist  them  in  the  solemnity  of  their  confederation. 

*  1821,  1831. 

t  The  names  have  been  given  in  a  note  to  the  Historical  Sermon, 
printed  in  1821. 


16 

Accordingly,  on  said  Monday,  at  three  in  the  afternoon,  being 
the  time  appointed,  two  of  these  pastors,  namely,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Prince  *  and  Foxcroft,f  met.  with  said  seventeen  persons,  and 
having  received  the  evidences  of  their  said  dismissions,  made  some 
inquiries  of  the  three  proposed  members,  and  the  others  testifying 
their  acceptance  of  them,  Mr.  Prince,  the  moderator,  beginning 
with  a  premonition  concerning  the  solemnity  of  this  transaction, 
they  proceeded  to  pray.  Mr.  Foxcroft  then  discoursed  from  Mat- 
thew xviii.  20.  Then  all  the  company  standing  up,  the  moderator 
deliberately  read  their  covenant,  which  they  had  written  fairly  in 
their  church  record  ;  to  which,  at  his  proposal,  all  the  seventeen  lift 
up  their  hands  in  token  of  their  consent,  and  then  subscribed  their 
names.  The  moderator  then  addressing  them  in  such  terms  as 
these  :  — ;  We  must  now  own  you  to  be  a  true  church  of  Christ, 
and  invested  with  all  the  privileges  belonging  to  such  a  one  :  And 
we  pray  you  may  have  grace  to  keep  this  holy  covenant,  and  that 
you  and  your  offspring  may  enjoy  the  blessings  of  it.'  Mr.  Fox- 
croft then  made  the  closing  prayer,  and  the  moderator  pronounced 

the  blessing." 

"  May  19$,  1737. 

"  Yesterday  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wm.  Hooper,  a  gentleman  from  Scot- 
land, brought  up  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  was  ordained 
pastor  of  the  new  and  West  Church  in  this  town,  lately  gathered, 
when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Foxcroft  began  with  prayer.  Mr.  Hooper 
preached  from  2  Cor.  iv.  7.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Sewall  then  prayed.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Prince  read  the  church-covenant,  &c,  and  prayed,  gave 
the  charge  to  Mr.  Hooper,  then  prayed  again,  and  gave  another 
charge  to  the  church ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Colman  gave  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship,  and  then  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hooper  appointed  the  23d  Psalm, 
and,  after  singing,  dismissed  the  congregation  with  a  blessing." 

The  names  of  the  pewholders  in  the  West  Church,  1737,  were 
Frazier,  Vail,  Rix,  Dupee,  Copeland,  Parker,  Adams,  Blanchard, 
Messinger,  Henderson,  Guttredge,  Winslow,  Watt,  Gray,  Dorrall, 
Watson,  Barton,  Waldo,  Allen,  Tyler,  Pemberton,  Storer,  Kilby, 
Cheever,   Jackson,    More,    Bradford,   Daniels,    Peirce,    Vintenon, 

*  Of  the  Old  South  Church.  f  Of  the  First  Church. 


17 

Young,  Sprague,  Mason,  Allen,  Russell,  Erving,  Traill,  Smibert, 
Spooner,  Jenner,  Lee,  Wells,  Blackador,  Gooch,  Stoddard,  Hall, 
Greenleafe,  Keyes,  Blinn,  Scollay,  Bemis,  Stratton,  Barrett,  Sig- 
ourney,  Kilcup,  Fitch,  Strangers,  Welch,  Billings,  John  Gooch, 
H.  Berry,  Dan  Berry,  Dennie,  Fairfield,  Eb.  Berry.  At  an  early 
period  (previous  to  1750),  we  find  Winter,  McNeil,  Cragie,  Bruce, 
Turner,  Mackay,  Vassall,  Scott,  Gridley,  Fletcher,  Edwards, 
Brown,  Vincol,  Gerrish,  Fowle,  Nichols,  Deming,  Jarvis,  Whitworth, 
Thwing,  C.  Tilden,  Ernes,  Avery,  Freeman.  From  1750  to  1790, 
we  have  the  additional  names  of  Atkins,  Sanders,  Sewall,  Rouse, 
Coffin,  Call,  Francis,  Prince,  Fleet,  Cranch,  Cushing,  Fitch,  Gill, 
Jones,  Foster,  Hunt,  Carnes,  Price,  Patten,  Inches,  Bruce,  Cazneau, 
Salter,  Palmer,  Eliot,  Barrett,  Brigden,  Buckman,  Edwards,  Bry- 
ant, Edes,  Brigman,  Broaders,  Shepherd,  McKown,  Viburt,  Bourne, 
Barrett,  Quincy,  Belcher,  Moffatt,  Blodgett,  Chapman,  Coney,  Dra- 
per, Homer,  Langdon,  Young,  Clark,  Swan,  Phillips,  Walley,  Gore, 
Revere,  Green,  Kneeland,  Ridgway,  Furness,  Morrill,  Winthrop, 
Hudson,  Boit,  Todd,  Ivers,  Torry,  Hurd,  S.  A.  Otis,  Skinner,  Ty- 
ler, Coolidge,  Baldwin,  Procter,  Putnam,  Parkman,  Larkin,  Free- 
man, Lepear,  Tisdale,  Farrington,  Carter,  Baty,  Henshaw,  Gay. 
From  1790  to  1805,  inclusive,  Simons,  Harmer  (now  Hammond), 
Powars,  Kuhn,  Davis,  Redman,  Simpson,  T.  Tilden,  Humphries, 
French,  G.  W.  Otis.  These,  it  is  supposed,  were  pewholders,  and 
probably  most  of  them  proprietors.  There  are  many  others  who 
had  their  children  baptized,  but  do  not  appear  as  pewholders. 

Mr.  Hooper  left  the  society  November  19th,  1746,  and  went  to 
England  to  receive  Episcopal  ordination,  having  accepted  an  invi- 
tation from  Trinity  Church  to  become  their  minister,  after  the 
death  of  Mr.  Davenport.  He  was  suspected  by  his  Congregational 
brethren  of  unsoundness  on  some  points  of  theology, —  a  sermon 
of  his  at  the  Thursday  lecture  gave  especial  offence,  —  and  this 
circumstance  probably  led  to  the  change  in  his  pastoral  relations. 
I  infer  this  from  a  correspondence  which  I  find  in  manuscript  in 
the  cabinet  of  the  Historical  Society.  The  west  parish  at  this  time, 
according  to  Douglass,*  stood  second  in  the  town  in  respect  to 
ability  and  numbers. 

*  Douglass's  Summary,  Vol.  I.,  p.  542.     The  society  was  dispersed 


18 

Among  the  churches  enumerated  by  Douglass  is  the  "  French 
Church,"  now  extinct.  This  church  worshipped  in  a  small  brick 
building  in  School  Street,  "  erected  by  some  French  Protestants 
who  came  hither  in  1686,  after  Louis  the  Fourteenth  had  revoked 
the  edict  of  Nantes,  and  many  thousand  Huguenots  were  obliged 
to  leave  France.  The  descendants  of  the  founders  of  this  house, 
as  they  formed  new  connections,  gradually  dropped  off.  Those 
wTho  remained  were  few  in  number,  and  the  support  of  a  minister 
was  an  expense  they  could  not  well  continue.  The  Rev.  Andrew 
Le  Mercier,  a  worthy  character,  desisted  from  officiating  as  minister, 
and  the  house  was  for  some  years  unoccupied.'"  *  In  1748,  the 
building  was  purchased  by  some  persons  who  separated  from  other 
churches  in  the  town,  formed  a  Congregational  church,  and  settled 
Mr.  Andrew  Croswell,  then  minister  of  the  church  in  Groton,  Con- 
necticut. His  church  in  Boston  was  not  acknowledged  as  a  sister 
church  by  the  other  churches  in  the  town  and  neighbourhood.  Its 
minister  claimed  a  seat  in  the  Board  of  Overseers  of  the  College, 
but  it  was  denied  him,  —  I  think  unjustly.     He  died  in  1785.t 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  in  the  history  of  God's  providence,  that,  on 
the  dissolution  of  this  Congregational  church,  the  house  came  into 
possession  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  the  persecutors  of  the  original 
builders,  and  was  used  by  them  as  a  place  of  worship  till  1803, 
when  the  "Church  of  the  Holy  Cross"  was  consecrated.  Thus 
the  persecutors  themselves,  —  many  of  them,  at  least,  —  perse- 
cuted and  exiled  for  their  religion  by  those  who  had  no  religion, 
were  compelled  to  worship  in  the  humble  edifice  which  the  victims 
of  their  oppression,  in  their  exile,  had   erected  and  abdicated.     I 

in  1775,  and  a  number  of  the  members  did  not  return  again.  Dr.  Howard 
himself  was  for  a  time  at  Annapolis,  in  Nova  Scotia. 

*  Historical  Collections,  First  Series,  Vol.  III. 

|  Mr.  Croswell  had  been  previously  invited  to  take  the  charge  of  a 
Congregational  church  in  the  town,  formed  July  18th,  1743,  by  persons 
dissatisfied  with  the  doctrine  or  discipline,  or  both,  of  the  other  churches; 
but,  after  much  correspondence,  the  connection  did  not  take  place,  and 
Mr.  Ephraim  Clark  was  settled  September  30th,  17-48,  and  was  their  min- 
ister in  1751.  Prob'ably  a  portion  of  these  separatists  formed  the  germ  of 
the  society  over  which  Mr.  Croswell  was  settled.  It  is  singular  that  we 
have  no  account  of  Mr.  Clark's  society  in  the  histories  of  Boston,  and 
that  it  has  never  been  reckoned  among  the  Congregational  churches. 


19 

remember  with  profound  respect  the  excellent  ministers  of  this 
church,  Drs.  Matignon  and  Cheverus,  whose  spirit  was  truly  cath- 
olic. With  the  latter  I  was  well  acquainted,  and  can  never  forget 
his  warm  embrace  as  we  parted,  on  his  leaving  America.  The 
Second  Universalist  Church  now  occupies  the  ground  on  which  the 
French  Church  stood,  or  is  very  near  it. 

Dr.  Mayhew,  the  second  minister  of  the  West  Church,  one  of  the 
ablest  men  our  country  has  produced,  was  ordained  June  17th, 
1747,  and  died  July  9th,  1766,  aged  forty-six  years.  Just  before 
his  death,  on  his  departure  to  attend  an  ecclesiastical  council  at 
Rutland,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  James  Otis,  Esq.,  suggesting  the  plan 
of  a  correspondence  or  "  communion  "  among  the  colonies,  which 
was  afterwards  adopted,  and  conduced  much  to  the  happy  result  of 
their  struggle  for  freedom.  His  discourse  on  the  30th  of  January, 
1750,  was  republished  at  the  suggestion  of  the  first  President  Adams, 
to  corroborate  the  claim  of  this  State  to  the  earliest  expression  of 
opinions  which  led  to  the  national  assertion  of  independence.  Dr. 
Mayhew  was  a  native  of  Martha's  Vineyard.  Dr.  Howard,  the 
third  minister,  a  truly  wise  and  good  man,  was  ordained  May  6th, 
1767,  and  died  August  13th,  1804,  aged  seventy-one  years.  He 
was  a  native  of  Bridgewater,  West  Parish.  The  fourth  minister,  a 
native  of  Boston,  was  ordained  January  1st,  1806.*  The  colleague 
pastor,  a  native  of  Freeport,  Maine,  was  ordained  March  1st,  1837. 

In  the  choice  of  the  first  minister  of  this  church,  the  "church" 
first  voted  by  themselves,  and  then  again  with  the  "  undertakers," 
as  the  proprietors  were  termed.  In  the  subsequent  elections,  the 
church  and  proprietors  (in  the  choice  of  Mr.  Howard  "the  church 
and  congregation")  voted  together  only;  the  records  of  the  church 
stating,  —  in  the  case  of  Drs.  Mayhew  and  Howard,  and  the  present 
senior  minister,  —  that  the  church  "  gave  up  the  right  to  lead  in  the 
choice,  and  consented  to  vote  with  the  proprietors."  In  the  case  of 
Mr.  Howard,  f*  congregation." 

It  does  not  appear  that  a  confession  of  faith  was  required  by  the 
council,  at  the  ordination  of  any  of  the  ministers.    At  the  ordination 

*  During  his  ministry,  before  the  settlement  of  a  colleague,  the  bap- 
tisms recorded  are  1351, including  99  adults;  the  marriages  724  ;  and  the 
funerals  1146.  Of  the  persons  interred,  616  had  reached  the  age  of  21 
years,  91  that  of  70  years,  and  6  of  90  years  ;  —  the  oldest  93. 


20 


in  1806,  there  was  much  discussion  on  the  subject,  pro  and  con.  It 
was  finally  voted,  that,  if  the  pastor  elect  had  prepared  any  thing, 
and  wished  to  present  it,  he  was  at  liberty  to  do  so.  The  parish  re- 
quested that  he  would  not  do  it,  and  he  was  thus  fortified  in  his  own 
determination  not  to  obtrude  it.  He  had  prepared  a  general  state- 
ment of  his  views  of  theology,  which  had  been  seen  by  his  friends, 
Messrs.  Channing  and  Buckminster,  and,  he  believes,  by  his  older 
friend,  Dr.  Eckley  (at  his  own  request),  a  man  of  a  truly  Christian 
spirit,  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  there  was  no  guile. 

At  that  period,  it  was  customary  for  the  moderator  of  the  council 
(who  on  this  occasion  was  Dr.  Lathrop,  one  of  the  best  men  I  have 
ever  known)  to  inquire  of  the  church  and  proprietors  in  public,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  ordination  services,  if  they  still  adhered 
to  their  call  of  the  candidate,  and  the  candidate  signified  anew  his 
acceptance,  usually  in  a  short  address. 

It  was  also  the  practice  of  this  church  to  send  a  special  invitation 
to  the  ministers  of  all  denominations  to  attend  the  services.  There 
existed  at  that  time  a  better  feeling  among  the  ministers  of  different 
denominations  than  now  exists.  In  the  Congregational  church  (to 
mention  no  others),  so  far  as  I  know,  the  relative  position  of  the 
parties  is  about  the  same,  though  both  have  materially  changed 
from  the  faith  of  those  who  went  before  them.  There  are  few,  if 
any,  whom  the  "Puritans"  would  recognize  as  their  legitimate 
successors. 

In  Pemberton's  "Description  of  Boston"  [Historical  Collections, 
Vol.  III.,  1st  series,  1794),  we  find  this  description  of  the  church 
edifice  first  erected  at  the  west  part  of  the  town. 

"  1736,  West  Church  in  Lynde  Street,*  New  Boston,  the  only 
church  in  that  division  of  the  town,  is  a  well  proportioned  wooden 

*  This  street,  as  I  learn  from  S.  F.  McCleary,  Esq.,  a  connection  of 
the  family,  has  its  name  from  Chief-Justice  Lynde,  who  owned  the  land 
through  which  it  runs,  and  which,  before  the  laying  out  of  the  street, 
was  called  Lynde's  pasture.  The  street  has  had  the  fortune  to  retain  its 
name.  Middlecott  Street,  in  this  neighbourhood,  has  been  changed  to 
Bowdoin  Street,  though  there  was  a  peculiar  propriety  in  the  former 
name,  as  Dr.  Middlecott  gave  the  land  to  the  town  for  the  purpose  of  a 
street.  Chambers  Street,  so  named  for  the  maternal  ancestors  of  Thomas 
Russell,  who  once  owned  the  land,  is  in  danger  of  being  metamorphosed 


21 

building,  with  a  handsome  steeple,  in  which  was  a  good  bell.  It 
was  situated  commodiously  to  give  signals  to  the  continental  troops 
at  Cambridge  on  the  opposite  shore.  The  British  troops  suspected 
it  had  been  used  for  this  purpose,  and  the  steeple  was  taken  down 
by  them  in  1775."  The  church  itself  they  used  as  a  barrack.  It 
stood  in  a  reverse  position  to  the  present  house,  and  the  principal 
entrance  was  from  Staniford  Street.  There  was  a  wide  opening 
on  the  street,  and  the  ascent  to  the  church  was  over  the  green- 
sward.* The  pulpit  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  church.  The 
pews  were  the  large  square  pews  which  were  the  fashion  of 
that  day. 

In  1805,  at  the  east  corner  of  Lynde  Street  and  Cambridge 
Street  stood  the  double  wooden  house  which  now  stands  there,  and 
has  been  recently  purchased  by  the  parish.  The  east  tenement  had 
been  the  residence  of  Dr.  Mayhew,  —  the  west,  of  Dr.  Howard,  who 
afterwards  lived  in  a  house  on  the  north  side  of  the  church.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  street,  opposite  to  Dr.  Howard's  residence,  was  the 
house  of  Seth  Wells,  Esq.,  then  recently  built.  On  the  west  corner 
of  Lynde  Street,  fronting  on  Cambridge  Street,  was  a  new  brick 
house,  erected  by  Harrison  G.  Otis,  Esq.,  who  is  now  probably  the 
only  survivor  of  those  who  were  baptized  by  Dr.  Mayhew.  On  the 
west  side  of  Staniford  Street,  where  the  house  of  her  son-in-law, 
Dr.  Shattuck,  now  stands,  were  the  house  and  garden  of  Mrs.  Davis, 
whose  family  was  among  the  earliest  in  the  parish ;  and  on  the 
opposite  corner  of  the  street,  the  house  and  extensive  garden  of 
Mungo  Mackay,  Esq.,  whose  son  is  the  present  treasurer,  and  his 
grandson  (son  of  S.  W.  Hunt,  Esq.)  the  clerk  of  the  parish.  This 
house  had  been  previously  occupied  by  Richard  Lechmere,  Esq.,  a 
gentleman  of  fortune,  highly  respectable  and  estimable,  who  left 
the  country  in  the  Revolution,  and  died  in  Bristol,  England.     It  is 

into  Chamber  Street.  Gooch  Street,  named  for  Deacon  Gooch,  who 
lived  in  the  street,  has  been  corrupted  into  Gouch  Street.  One  person, 
now  living  (perhaps  more  than  one),  has  lived  in  seven  streets  without 
changing  his  place  of  residence.  The  name  of  a  street  should  not  be 
lightly  changed.  It  may  be  connected  with  some  circumstance,  the  mem- 
ory of  which  it  may  be  interesting,  not  to  say  extremely  important,  to 
retain. 

*  Page  4th  of  the  Discourse. 


22 

from  him  that  "  Lechmere's  Point  "  derives  its  name.  On  the  op- 
posite side  of  Cambridge  Street  was  the  brick  house  now  standing, 
then  the  residence  of  Thomas  Dennie,  Esq. ;  and  next  to  this,  the 
house  of  Mr.  Ridgway.  Mr.  Wells,  Mrs.  Davis,  Mr.  Mackay,  Mr. 
Hunt,  Mr.  Dennie,  and  Mr.  Ridgway  were  all  members  of  the 
parish,  and  their  memories  are  honored.  Between  Hancock  and 
Belknap  Streets  stood  a  large  distillery,  happily  soon  afterwards  de- 
molished, and  its  place  supplied  by  a  range  of  brick  dwelling- 
houses.  The  aspect  of  this  part  of  the  city,  as  it  may  be  supposed, 
is  wholly  changed.  Whatever  streets  were  laid  out,  they  had  but 
few  houses  in  them,  and  the  general  appearance  was  that  of  a 
thinly  settled  place,  with  large  unoccupied  spaces,  pastures,  and 
marsh-land.  Between  "West  Boston"  and  the  "North  End" 
was  the  mill-pond,  into  which  the  spirit  of  speculation  soon  after 
transferred  Beacon  Hill,  a  beautiful  conical  eminence,  at  the  base 
of  which  the  State  House  was  erected,  and  which  was  alike  con- 
ducive to  the  health  and  ornament  of  the  town.  A  causeway  ex- 
tended from  Leverett  Street  to  Prince  Street.  The  "  New  Alms- 
house "  stood  on  the  banks  of  Charles  River,  on  or  near  "  Barton's 
Point."  It  was  taken  down  in  1825.  Near  this  point  Mr.  Black- 
stone,  the  first  English  inhabitant  of  Boston,  resided  in  1630. 

The  old  church  was  taken  down  ifi  March,  1806,  and  the  new 
church*  was  opened  for  public  worship  November  27th  of  the 
same  year.  The  services  were  performed  by  the  pastor.  The 
text  of  the  sermon  was  Psalm  c.  4,  5.  It  was  the  day  of  annual 
thanksgiving.  The  following  hymn,  written  for  the  occasion  by 
Mrs.  Morton,  was  sung. 

"  In  vain  would  mortal  hands  prepare 
The  Temple's  bless'd  abode, 
Unless,  supreme  in  mercy  there, 
Descend  the  accepting  God. 

"  In  vain  the  warbled  prayer  we  raise, 
Though  human,  seems  divine, 
Unless  the  heart's  responsive  praise, 
Inspiring  God,  be  thine. 

*  The  expense  of  building  the  new  church  was  $39,984-99.  The 
sum  realized  at  the  sale  of  the  pews  on  the  lower  floor,  which  were  first 
offered,  was  $49,555. 


23 

"  Such  was  a  Mayhew's  soul  of  zeal, 
Adoring  Thee  with  fear  ; 
He  taught  the  sinner's  heart  to  feel 
Th'  all-seeing  God  was  near. 

"  With  milder  light  a  Howard  shone  ; 
To  him  persuasion  given, 
He  charm'd  the  hope  to  Thee  alone, 
Parent  of  earth  and  heaven. 

"  Such  may  our  youthful  pastor  prove, 
The  words  of  life  to  feel ; 
Be  his  a  Howard's  pitying  love, 
A  Mayhew's  heavenly  zeal. 

"0  Thou  !  to  whom  the  solar  blaze 
Seems  but  a  shadowy  zone, 
To  thee  our  sacred  dome  we  raise, 
Jehovah  !  —  God  alone  !  " 

The  proprietors  of  the  church,  at  the  time  of  the  call  of  the 
present  senior  minister,  as  far  as  ascertained,  were  Messrs.  *John 
Avery,  *Joseph  Blake,  *John  Carnes,  *  Andrew  Calhoun,  Jonas 
Coolidge,  *Charles  Cushing,  *Thomas  Dennie,  *John  Derby,  *Eb 
enezer  Eaton,  *Samuel  Eliot,  *William  Foster,  *  Jeremiah  Gard 
ner,  *Martin  Gay,  *Samuel  Gore,  * Joseph  Heard,  *Ebenezer  Her 
ring,  Jr.,  *John  C.  Howard,  *Samuel  W.  Hunt,  *John  Hurd 
*Thomas  K.  Jones,  *John  Kuhn,  Caleb  Loring,  *Braddock  Loring 

*  Jonathan  Loring,  *Mungo  Mackay,  *Asa  Page,  *  James  Prince 

*  Joseph  Ridgway,  *  William  Todd,  *Samuel  Todd,  *John  Tucker 
•Bill  Vose,  •Thomas  Walley,  *Seth  Wells,  *Mrs.  Carter,  *Mrs 
Davis,  and  *Mrs.  Job  Prince. 

There  is  reference  on  the  5th  page  of  the  Discourse  to  an  officer 
of  the  church.  It  was  Charles  Cushing,  Esq.,  one  of  the  purest 
and  best  of  men.  The  other  deacon  at  that  time,  John  Avery,  Esq., 
was  for  many  years  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  having  the 
confidence  of  all  parties. 

In  1805,  there  were   nine  Congregational  churches  in  Boston,f 

*  Deceased. 

f  There  are  now  twenty-nine.  There  were  then  ten  churches  of  all 
the  other  denominations  ;  there  are  now  forty-four.  This  statement  does 
not  include  the  chapels  of  the  ministry  at  large. 


24 

the  West  Church  being  ranked  the  ninth,  though  it  was  in  fact  the 
eighth,  as  the  church  in  Federal  Street  did  not  join  the  Congrega- 
tional communion  till  1787.  These  churches  were  in  fellowship, 
and  their  ministers  exchanged  with  one  another,  and  assisted  each 
other  in  ministerial  labors  as  occasion  required.  This  fellowship 
was  maintained  between  this  church  and  the  eight  other  churches  till 
1821.  In  that  year  an  interruption  of  the  fellowship  between  this 
church  and  the  Old  South  Church  took  place,  —  not  through  the  in- 
strumentality either  of  the  Old  South  Church  or  society,  or  the 
minister  of  this  church,  but  of  those  ministers  who  had  determined  to 
separate  the  Old  South  Church  from  the  "  Unitarian  communion," 
and  who  thought,  as  was  declared  to  him,  that,  from  the  relative 
position  of  the  minister  of  this  church  to  both  parties,  he  would  serve 
as  a  connecting  link  between  them.  In  regard  to  the  Old  South 
society,  he  had  been  in  habits  of  ministerial  intercourse  with  them 
to  that  time,  had  paid  a  tribute  in  their  church  to  the  memory  of 
their  excellent  pastor,  then  recently  deceased,  had  ministered  to  the 
parish  in  their  sickness  and  trouble  during  the  absences  and  after 
the  death  of  their  ministers,  and  had  been  invited  by  a  unanimous 
vote  of  the  church  to  give  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to  their 
newly  elected  pastor,  Mr.  Wisner.  The  other  churches  in  the 
town  invited  to  this  council  were  Park  Street  and  the  church  in 
Green  Street. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  add,  that,  whilst  they  were  engaged  in  the 
erection  of  a  new  church,  the  committee  of  the  West  Parish  re- 
ceived a  communication  from  the  minister  of  the  Old  South  Church 
and  congregation,  inclosing  the  following  vote  :  — 

"  Voted,  unanimously,  that  it  would  be  highly  gratifying  to  this 
society,  if  their  brethren  of  the  West  Boston  society  would  meet 
with  them  for  worship,  in  their  house,  —  the  two  pastors  jointly 
leading  in  the  public  devotions." 

The  minister  of  the  West  Church  (now  the  senior  minister)  is 
a  Congregationalist,  as  it  respects  the  outworks  of  the  house  of 
God,  but  belongs  to  no  sect  as  it  regards  the  doctrines  of  theology, 
nor  has  any  exclusiveness  as  it  regards  his  Congregationalism. 
The  Quaker,  the  Presbyterian,  the  Protestant  Episcopalian,  the 
Baptist,  and  the  Methodist  Episcopalian  have  all  preached  in  his 
pulpit,  and  all,  except  the  first,  in  the  usual  Sabbath  exercise.     It  is 


25 

among  the  pleasant  recollections  of  his  ministry  that  it  has  been  so. 
He  certainly  differs  from  his  Unitarian  brethren,  as  well  as  from 
others,  on  some  important  points,  —  to  him,  at  least,  important, — 
but  he  admits  in  them  the  right  of  private  judgment  which  he  claims 
for  himself,  and  he  has  esteemed  himself  favored  in  having  had  an 
affectionate  intercourse  of  so  many  years  with  such  good  men,  and 
faithful,  devoted  ministers.  He  belongs  neither  to  the  "  Pastoral 
Association  "  (Calvinistic),  nor  to  the  "  Unitarian  Association  " ;  but 
he  wishes  well  to  both,  in  as  far  as  they  are  adapted  to  promote 
the  glory  of  God,  and  the  interests  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion, 
—  and  no  farther. 


Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 
Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

PUT.  M.  21.  1908 


